Property tax appeal letter — template and example
The template
[Date]
[County appraisal district / Value Adjustment Board]
Re: Protest of assessed value — Parcel [PARCEL ID], [PROPERTY ADDRESS]
I respectfully request a reduction of the 2026 assessed value of the above property from [ASSESSOR VALUE] to [REQUESTED VALUE], based on comparable sales in the same neighborhood within the past 12 months.
The five comparable sales below have a median price per square foot of [$ X], which applied to this property's [SQFT] square feet supports a market value of approximately [REQUESTED VALUE]. All comparables are arms-length residential sales within 0.5 miles, similar in age, size, and condition.
[COMP TABLE: address, sale date, sale price, sqft, $/sqft]
Sincerely,
[NAME]
What to avoid
- Hardship arguments (taxes too high for budget). Boards cannot consider this.
- Neighbor's lower assessment. Equity claims are weaker than market-value claims.
- Renovation cost rollups. Unless used to argue condition reductions, irrelevant.
- Photographs without context. If you submit photos, label what they show and why.
Common questions
How long should a property tax appeal letter be?
One page. Two short paragraphs and a comp table. Boards read hundreds of these; brevity helps.
Do I need to cite statutes?
No. Reviewers want comparable sales and a clear requested value, not legal arguments. Save statute citations for late-stage litigation, which almost no homeowner reaches.
What value should I request?
The median of your three to five comparable sales, rounded down to the nearest thousand. Asking for an unreasonably low value undermines credibility.
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